Pompano Dive Center and charters going out of business...

[Norrm]

Sounds like they are blaming competitors.

No, they are clearly blaming the Sands Harbor Marina ownership.

 

[lexvil]

No, they are clearly blaming the Sands Harbor Marina ownership.

I took the statement of “a time when small businesses in our industry should be banding together some choose to undermine others” to mean competition but it is followed by the new owners part, so I may have taken it wrong.

 

[tridacna]

Sad irony. Landlords raising rents in this moribund retail market...I live in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the US: Short Hills, NJ and retail in our town is horrible. Empty stores abound yet rents are off the charts.

 

[Norrm]

I took the statement of “a time when small businesses in our industry should be banding together some choose to undermine others” to mean competition but it is followed by the new owners part, so I may have taken it wrong.

It's worded a bit poorly for sure.

I wonder if that's all there is to it. Probably not. I mean, if it's all about the rent, why not do something along the lines of what Miss Conduct Charters do, and run the boat out of a slip somewhere else without a retail store and have a designated pickup spot if not where the boat is kept.

They were my favorite Op in that area- with their steel Nitrox tanks and I really like their boat with the pretty blue speckled padded wide open stern area, easy online scheduling and some great 2 tank double wreck dives on the regular schedule.

Wonder what the other 2 Dive Ops that work out of that marina are gonna do if they've got the same issue.

The new marina owners sound like real dirt bags. They put up a fence along the edge of the marina near PDC and some nasty signs prohibiting parking there forcing people to use the paid lot or valet parking at the hotel.

By the way divers can valet park at the hotel for about the same price or even a bit less than the parking lot which has those annoying and difficult to use meters.

 

[lexvil]

It's worded a bit poorly for sure.

I wonder if that's all there is to it. Probably not. I mean, if it's all about the rent, why not do something along the lines of what Miss Conduct Charters do, and run the boat out of a slip somewhere else without a retail store and have a designated pickup spot if not where the boat is kept.

They were my favorite Op in that area- with their steel Nitrox tanks and I really like their boat with the pretty speckled padded open stern area, easy online scheduling and some 2 tank double wreck dives.

Wonder what the other 2 Dive Ops are gonna do if they've got the same issue.

Where is that box of tissues

Rent hikes alone don’t usually cause a business to fail, often just being the last straw. I’m not familiar with them or the surrounding business but I took the vailed reference to mean perhaps they tried to raise prices hoping that everyone else do the same, maybe as an offset for the rent and didn’t get any cooperation.

I could be wrong but this is the feeling I got from the wording.

 

[Wookie]

Rent hikes alone don’t usually cause a business to fail, often just being the last straw. I’m not familiar with them or the surrounding business but I took the vailed reference to mean perhaps they tried to raise prices hoping that everyone else do the same, maybe as an offset for the rent and didn’t get any cooperation.

I could be wrong but this is the feeling I got from the wording.

As I said in post 2, I think they read the writing on the wall and decided to bail with some of their treasure intact. They figured out how to keep a million in the dive business.

 

[Johnoly]

Jeremy the owner of PDC is a good guy. He started out up in Jupiter where I knew him and then transitioned down to Pompano. Pompano (like Key West) is a cut-throat dive market. Great location, but high costs and so many other boats and shops within a stone's throw. Just the insurance costs alone are some of highest in Florida. No one likes to hear any dive shop going out of business, PDC will be missed.

 

[Dsix36]

I, along with many others, will sadly miss PDC.

BUT

I would like to take this post to remind all of use that are feeling sorry for ourselves about this, to take a moment and think about all the awesome people that are suddenly out of a job. I wish them all the best of luck at this difficult transition of their lives.

 

[hammet]

sad news.

 

[PT4476]

Sad news. PDC was a great dive operator. I'm going to echo Dsxix36's comment above, a bunch of great people are now out of a job. I'd like to thank them for many safe, fun trips. Also wishing them the best of luck.